Sunday, September 14, 2014

September 14,1864-The Confederate forces in the Shenandoah Valley are weakened when General Richard H. Anderson's corps leaves General Early's army to rejoin General R.E. Lee at Petersburg, Virginia.September 14,1864-General Wade Hampton's Confederate Cavalry rides southwest then southeast and finally northwest toward Coggins Point, Virginia on the Rowdy River. There are about 4,000 head of cattle at Coggin's Point being herded by Union guards. The roundabout Confederate approach is to confuse the Union guards.September 15,1864-General Hampton's force arrives at Blackwater Creek, Virginia, undetected after riding 18 miles on a circuitous route.September 16,1864-General Hampton engages and defeats a group of Federal troops herding cattle and leads over 2400 head back to Petersburg. They also take 300 prisoners.September 16,1864-Rebecca West, a Union spy in Winchester, Virginia, observes the departure of General Joseph Kershaw's Confederate Cavalry with 12 cannon as they detach from General Early's army. She relays the intelligence to General Sheridan and then confers with General Grant concerning strategy at Charlestown, Virginia. The transfer of forces back to Richmond induces General Sheridan to attack immediately.September 17,1864-John C. Fremont, nominated as a candidate for President at the spring convention of Radical Republicans dissatisfied with President Lincoln's conduct of the war, withdraws from the race. Fremont fears a Democratic victory, leading to recognition of the Confederacy or, at least, the re-establishment of slavery. While still disappointed with the war's progress, he swings his support to Lincoln and pledges to work for emancipation.September 17,1864-General Jubal Early, outnumbered three to one, advances toward Martinsburg, Virginia, to cut the Baltimore & Ohio RR.September 18,1864-When his Confederate troops encounter enemy cavalry, General Early falls back toward Winchester again. The 12,000 man Southern force is widely scattered and poorly positioned defensively. General Sheridan decides to attack first thing the next morning.September 18,1864-General John M. Schofield orders Union cavalry commanded by General Stephen Burbridge to depart Mount Sterling, Kentucky to Saltville on the Virginia border. This diversionary force is to mask the major raid under the command of General Alvan C. Gillem moving from Tennessee into southwestern Virginia.September 19,1864-General Sheridan attacks the Confederates in Winchester. Bottlenecks develop as the Union troops try to cross the Opequon River and the Confederates outnumber the attackers for a time. By afternoon, the Union is at full force against the Southern breastworks and General Early's troops are forced into a full retreat. The Confederates suffer 3000 men killed or wounded, leaving many on the field. An additional 2000 are taken prisoner. This major victory causes jubilation in the North, especially in the Republican party seeking the re-election of President Lincoln. Republican James Garfield later writes "Phil Sheridan has made a speech in the Shenandoah Valley more powerful and valuable to the Union cause than all the stumpers of the Republic can make."September 19,1864-The "Lake Erie Conspiracy" takes place as two Confederate agents launch their plan to capture the USS Michigan and free Confederate prisoners being held at Johnson's Island in Sandusky Harbor. The plan fails when Confederate agent Charles H. Cole, aboard the USS Michigan as a plant, is discovered when he signals the boarding party. The other boat is scuttled by Confederate Navy Captain John Yates Beall who is later captured and hanged.September 20,1864-General Early regroups his scattered forces at Fisher's Hill, Virginia. While he has a strong natural defensive position, he is short of manpower to man it effectively. Union cavalry continues the pursuit.September 20,1864-President Jefferson Davis travels from Richmond to Georgia to bolster Southern morale in the state.

Saturday, September 6, 2014

September 7,1864-An additional 573 rounds are fired into the rubble of Fort Sumter with no surrender.September 7,1864-General Sherman's Special Field Order #67 requires about 1,600 families to begin an evacuation of Atlanta. Sherman's message to the city's mayor--"War is cruelty and you cannot refine it. When peace comes you may call on me for anything. Then I will share with you the last cracker".September 8,1864-George McClellan accepts the Democratic Party nomination for president but rejects the platform that labels the war a failure. He calls President Lincoln a failure for the way he handled the war and disagrees with the Union push for unconditional surrender and recognition of Emancipation in the South. He insists only on reunion; individual states of the South re-entering the Union with full guarantee of all constitutional rights.September 8,1864-Federal ships escort an army transport into the Bonsecours River near Mobile and destroy more than 50 Confederate salt furnaces at Salt House Point.September 9,1864-General Grant urges General Sherman to resume offensive pressure on General Hood's Army. No specific decision on Sherman's next move is discussed but the goal is to keep Hood away from the stalemate at Petersburg/Richmond.September 9,1864-In Tennessee, General Wheeler completes his raid on Union supply lines and crosses the Tennessee River at Florence, Alabama. Union work crews quickly repair the railroads. The net result of Wheeler's raid is to deprive General Hood of cavalry and additional fighting troops at Atlanta.September 10,1864-General Sheridan, aware that some of General Early's troops have been moved to Richmond, proposes offensive action at Winchester against Early's remaining strength. General Grant agrees.September 11,1864-Generals Sherman and Hood agree on a ten day truce to allow the Atlanta citizens to evacuate with their belongings. A citizens committee presents a formal protest and General Sherman is blunt saying "You might as well appeal against the thunderstorm as against these terrible hardships of war".September 12,1864-President Lincoln, anxious to break the stalemate between Sheridan and Early at Winchester, Virginia, suggests to General Grant to "quietly but suddenly" supply additional troops to Sheridan to allow him to strike.September 12,1864-General Sterling Price's Confederates cross the White River, Arkansas, and march to Pocahontas to unite with General Joseph Shelby's Cavalry Division. The Army of Missouri is then organized into three divisions under Shelby, James Fagan, and John S. Marmaduke. Price commands 12,000 men and 14 cannon but about half of his men are untrained or unarmed. His plan is to capture Union weapons as they cross Missouri, marching in three distinct columns.